Last fall, Frank & I started thinking
about preschools for Frankie. (It's pretty competitive in our area due to supply and demand.) I put together my trusty spreadsheet of
schools that we wanted to research and then we set about attending open houses.
Chesterbrook Montessori was the
first school that we visited and it immediately felt right. After
visiting other schools, we ultimately decided to sign Frankie up at
Chesterbrook. On Monday, 8/25, I took Frankie to school to meet his
teachers, check out his cubby (yellow with a dog on it!) and drop off his
slippers and extra clothes. The next day, Frank & I attended parent's
orientation and then, on Wednesday, 8/27, the new children went for two hours
for their first phase-in day while the parents met for coffee and to dry each
other's tears. ;) Frankie's first day was a hit! Days two and three were a
different story. The mornings started
with "I don't want to go to school" and he even broke out the excuses
- “I’m too tired to go to school.” Really? They start this early? And then came drop off. Ugh.
It’s kiss and drop style where the teachers come to the car to get the
students out of the car. Well, Frankie
cried and did not want to get out. He literally grabbed onto the car seat
and cried and screamed “I don’t want to go.”
It broke my heart. The first time I asked the teacher if I should
get out of the car and walk him in, but she assured me that he would be ok and
would get the hang of it. "I'm just going to take him out, ok?"
she said. I remember thinking, "yes, whatever - just please make my
poor boy stop crying!" I drove away with tears in my eyes. But
by the time day 4 came around, Frankie was excited to go to school! And
knock-on-wood, he’s been into it ever since.
Personally, I think someone has a crush on Miss Bethany - but the
teachers tell us that he also enjoys snack time (go figure) and doing the
dishes. There are about 40 children that range in age from 3-5 in his
class. I know it sounds crazy, but it works - We observed the classroom
before we signed up to believe it! The Montessori philosophy is truly something
special. And it will be really cool when Frankie & Julia both attend
together (they will overlap during his last year).
It's tough to get lots of details out of
Frankie about his school day but he will usually tell me what the snack was.
And sometimes he'll sing a song from the day. Or at least tell me
what the song was about. He talks about
the line on the floor – where they sit each morning. And he loves to show off his jumping jacks
(from morning yoga) at home which just consist of him jumping up and down. The other day he told me about drawing a
pumpkin: “First you need to draw a
stem. And then an orange circle.” I’m starting to hear him reference the
months, too. It’s amazing seeing him
grow and learn and I’m thrilled that this was an easy transition for him!
